the large swath of the city that would be affected. it's estimated about 18,000 people would be killed in a day. let's get straight to barbara starr. and barbara, what have you learned tonight? >> well, you know, as tragic and serious as this is for the people of syria, this now has regional implications throughout the middle east. intelligence services from israel, turkey, jordan, lebanon, all the countries surrounding syria are talking with the united states around the clock about this very scenario because if there were to be god forbid a chemical attack, the concern is some could drift across borders. worse even as tragic as that would be, what if the regime collapses, terrorists move in, insurgent groups move in and grab some chemical material. they could take it across the borders into the neighbors countries and have a full fledged crisis in the region. >> there has been talk that assad may try and seek asylum. what are you being told about that and the possibilities? >> you know, there's a lot of rumors out there. the betting m